‘Still not a good idea to alert him,’ whispered Elissa, pulling Silvius into the lee of a rock.

Laughter floated up towards them, and around the bend came a group of women following a wooden cart drawn by an old mule, on which were piles of freshly dried clothes.

Elissa acted quickly. She slipped in behind a pair of young girls, and twisted a cloth off the cart. Then she draped it over Silvius, hiding his short hair, and took him by the arm, leaning in as if telling him a secret. They followed the women a few paces behind the ones in the rear.

They were singing and chattering as they went, some in pairs sharing a shawl, some carrying toddlers and babies.

‘The clouds are massing,’ a tall, long-haired woman called to the guard. ‘The Skyfather is angry! There will be a storm later.’

‘At least the Skyfather could wait until my watch is over!’ answered the guard. ‘Any of you girls got a kiss for a lonely soldier?’ There was a gust of laughter, and Elissa and Silvius were through.

Up the dusty ramp they went, now within the encircling citadel walls, the great plains of Argos rolling beneath them. They passed a collection of stone buildings, but it was obvious where the kinghouse was.

Within the city, Elissa began to feel the weight of the stones pressing down on her. She had loved the openness of the sea. But here she was constricted, the walls like a prison.

The kinghouse seemed to her to have erupted from the ground itself, a living thing that had decided, for reasons of its own, to crouch here and wait. Its huge bronze doors were open.

Inside all was shadowy. They watched as people thronged in and out, busy, hurrying, boys off to wrestle and hunt, men and women talking, arguing, carrying jars and clothes and weapons and all the things that made up life.

It was far less ordered than Lavinium. Everything was crumbling and ancient; nobody seemed to be in charge. It made Elissa feel a little less nervous. In all this chaos, it would be easier to stay unnoticed.

Elissa turned to Silvius. He had a peculiar expression on his face, and he was fidgeting with the chain around his neck.

They had to get on with their mission. She had been worrying about the effect the Arrowhead was having on Silvius. Was it making him forget their purpose? Now, she took his arm gently. ‘We’re nearly there,’ she said.

His eyes focused on her, and a smile formed. ‘Yes. Let’s find Hero.’

She approached the kinghouse up a flight of enormous dark stone steps, Silvius behind her.

At the threshold, the brightness of the sun made the inside seem as if it might engulf them both.